10/06/2009 15:58
Updates for September (in October)
I weighed in this morning at 154. This number is significant for many reasons. 1. I've lost 5 pounds quickly after a loooooong plateau; 2 - I am now in my "normal" BMI for THE FIRST TIME since I went to university; and 3 - I have now lost 100 pounds since my very highest weight in 2003. (In case you are just jumping in, let me assure you it has not taken me since 2003 - I've just yoyo-ed 2 or 3 times in there).
The last two weeks I've been fighting a bad cold, and have only been able to get back to workouts these past 3 days. It's the first time I've had to take a break since I started (this round of) losing back in February or March. A little nerve racking to say the least. But I seem to have come out the other end all the better for it.
I also have a nagging injury which hasn't been resolving itself. It's been since the end of August. My upper left leg - it feels like the top of my hamstring, but I can't feel it when I stretch my hamstring. I feel it somewhere in my glutes or hip. If it doesn't resolve I am going to have to mention it to my doctor.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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08/07/2009 16:18
Updates for August
Where has the time gone??? I seem to have trouble making it on here lately. Anyway, I am down to 165 now, which is the lowest I've been since my first year of university (10 years!!). I have been on vacation the last two weeks, and the first week we were away and my eating habits were none too pretty.
That said, my efforts seem to have stuck, because I came back having lost a pound, and since then have been dropping almost daily. I am finally seeing myself slimming down. I am now a size 10/12! I have a pair of jeans in an 8!!! I am by no means satisfied/done. I still want to see it down to 140-150 (goal is 145). I'm only 20 pounds from that goal and have lost 32 lbs since March.
My running is coming along well. I have been running 5k (3.3 miles) as my long run. It's still slow and takes upward of 30 mins, but I'm mostly pleased to be doing it. I'm started adding a bit of speed work to my easy runs, which will hopefully help. mapmyrun.com is just GENIUS. It tells you how far and fast you ran and it can do nifty stuff like tell you how many calories you burned.
I don't ever see myself becoming an obsessive runner, but I am thinking I might try a couple of 5k races, just for something to do.
Also, in other exciting news, I have a riding lesson this morning with a new coach. I'm really looking forward to it - if it goes well... I can't even really let myself play out the happy scenarios. I would really like to get back into some low level showing and make some progress with this mare I am riding. She is a solid citizen (albeit bum high) and I think we could do well.
That's my novel for the month. I'll try and come back sooner so I can keep this short and sweet.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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07/05/2009 06:10
Improvements
Hello cyber amigos...
I am back and of better spirits this week. Only one pound has changed, but my running seems to have improved drastically, of late. I have started running between 20-27 consecutive minutes, which has been a long time coming. I feel great at the end of my runs and if Mapmyrun.com is accurate, I am running a 10 minute mile.
I'm still looking forward to the day that I never see 180 on the scale again - I still do sometimes late in the day. I am really looking forward to getting the next 10 lbs off. I'll be my lowest since I left for university 10 years ago.
I feel like I have more to be proud of this week. I'm still not thrilled when I see myself in the mirror, but I'm trying to focus on what I going right.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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06/30/2009 04:20
Feeling the frustration
Hi extrapounds folks,
I've been pretty lousy at blogging lately. My weight seems to be decreasing at a snail's pace. I had a 3 week plateau or so, which was pretty much driving me nuts. But I think I am back on track.
I am currently at 176. However, I've been feeling really unsatisfied with myself at this weight - in the past, this is where I have really started feeling great about how I look, but this time around, I'm not even remotely satisfied. I'm really gunning to get down to a size 8 and 145-150 lbs. All things in good time.
I'm focussing a lot on eating reasonably and sustainably, as well as exercising. I have done a couple of straight 20 or 22 minute runs. These are pretty exciting for me. I'm even thinking of trying to do a 5k clinic in the fall.
Since losing this weight I have gone from having a BMI of over 30, to being at 27.6. I am halfway to not being overweight anymore!
All in all things are on track - I have frustrations and successes. More of the former. I'll keep you posted!
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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06/05/2009 14:46
Update
I know I haven't been checking in here very often. I've been tracking my weight loss on sparkpeople for the most part and have very little time to blog. However, I am now down to 181, which was my lowest weight last summer. I have set my next goal as 165 by the end of August that will be my lowest since high school. My concern is going to be staying motivated AFTER 165 for my final 20.
Right now I'm in the cruising phase - making good choices is as easy as it gets and I am seeing both the scale moving and my body changing. Neither is happening fast, but I get little rewards for my efforts on a weekly basis. I know that becomes a plateau as soon as I start to feel good about how I am looking.
I'm counting calories which is cumbersome. I am also having to avoid certain social outings where eating (and more importantly drinking) are the main focus, but I feel that those will be extras I can learn to reintegrate once I am down to my goal. And don't get me wrong - I still go out eating and drinking with friends, but less frequently and I try and limit my drinks to 1 or 2.
That's all for now, but I'll try and post a little more faithfully!
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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05/01/2009 22:21
The Trouble with Travelling
So, I have finally seen some slight improvement over the last week or so. Right now is my TOM, so I won't get on the scale for 5 days or so.
I have been flip flopping between complete frustration and feeling like the slow and steady tortoise. In my "slow and steady" moments I remember two things. I don't have as much time to devote to weight loss on any given day as I would have in the past. I simply don't have 3 hours a day to fuss over calories and strength training. I have enough time to work out for 30 - 60 mins, and keep track of what I am eating. I have a job and a significant other that I am accountable to as well as myself.
Secondly, I am constantly travelling for work. Lately I am on the road on average 2-3 days a week. This means I am eating at least 7 meals on the road (plus the odd one for pleasure when I'm at home). Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not eating poorly. I usually get a 6 inch turkey sub, soup and salad, sushi, wendy's chili etc when I am on the road. Often I will go to a nearby grocery store and grab some ready to go chicken salad, fruit etc. But regardless, it's hard to know exactly what I'm eating. There are inevitably calories in even a sub, that I might avoid when cooking for myself. The other difficulty is finding washrooms fast when I have been drinking lots of water, but that's a different problem!
I am good about hitting hotel gyms and I generally snack less (since there is nothing available)... BUT.
If anyone has any good ideas for eating well while on the road, I would be glad to hear them.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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04/24/2009 05:11
Ass choices
I feel like I have been doing everything right but still no change. Smaller portions, few to no bad choices, the occasional treat to keep me going, exercise 5x a week. But in the last two weeks I have hovered between 193 and 190. I'm just brimming with frustration, but I have come this far. So instead of devouring a couple of bacon and eggers I am going to redouble my efforts. I really wanted to be down to 180 by my birthday but seeing as how that's just over 2 weeks away I am rethinking.
SO, here are a few things I am going to add:
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5 servings of grain max for 4 out of 7 days.
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6 glasses of water day
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Measure portions where practical
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Making choices with my ass
What? you say. Make choices with my ass? Yes. As I was sitting staring at the tray full of cinamon rolls with a co-worker, we contemplated how we often eat without even asking outselves if we want the food. I pointed out that there are different levels of want.
If I ask my mouth or fingers if I want the food, the answer is invariably "yes". This is often the case when I ask my brain ("carbs make me feel good"). However, my ass very rarely says yes, except to things high in fibre, water and protein. I would liken my ass to my superego, my fingers/mouth to my id, and my brain to my ego. I certainly have an overactive id.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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04/15/2009 16:02
A bad week
This week I just haven't been able to lose. If anything I'm up a pound. It's been very frustrating. I have been sticking to program - 5 workouts good on the food front... I had a few easter chocolates and dessert at dinner. But only ever a couple chocolates a day and my dessert was one small serving. I've been staying well within the bounds of my "diet".
I absolutely hate being at the weight I am, so it's frustrating after 4+ weeks not to be getting a little more reward for my efforts. I am going to stick with things the way they are for another week or so, and then reevaluate if necessary. I need to go back and figure out where I hit a plateau last time...
Just checked and in less than 4 weeks I lost 10 pounds. I guess I just have to accept that if I am going to do this in a more committed and balanced way that it might take longer. It's hard because on some level, I do feel like I am depriving myself of all of the little indulgences that I enjoyed. I need to feel like that is paying off.
Anyway, I'm going to knuckle down and do a couple good workouts over the next 2 days, and be good as gold with my eating and hopefully get some movement on the scale.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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04/08/2009 01:33
Just keep swimming
I got on the scale this morning and what should I see I have lost 3 more lbs, for a total of 7.
Usually, at this stage of weight loss, I get a huge charge out of the numbers and a surge of determination. This time, however, I did not. I looked down and thought "oh well, I suppose it's about time". I was more surprised by the absence of a reaction.
I am hoping that my blasé attitude toward this is a reflection of my new more successful approach to weight loss - roll it into my normal routine rather than carve out huge portions of time and energy to devote quasi obsessively.
Don't get me wrong. I have every intention of seeing this through. My partner and I are planning to get married next spring. And call me cliché, but I don't want to remember myself as a fat tub when I look back at my pictures. I want to spend the remainder of my 20s feeling fabulous. I want to keep feeling fabulous after we have kids and when they leave the nest. I want my body to keep up with me well into retirement. I want to get down between 140 and 150 and stay within 140 and 150.
Anyway, there's not much more to say. I don't feel like I've lost, but the scale says I have. I have moments where I would love to go get a pack of candy and another of cadbury mini-eggs and just go to town, but I've just been saying no.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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03/30/2009 14:56
Making habits last
Week one has gone well. I've been eating quite well (except yesterday where I went out for breakfast and then to the inlaws for supper) and I managed 5 workouts over the course of the week. Still, the results have been minimal.
What I find astonishing is just how many many bad choices I was able to forgo and just how easily bad habits can establish themselves. Obviously, I have lost significant amounts of weight 2 or 3 times before. Each time I do, I develop a set of habits where I eat small amounts of low cal-high nutrition food. This involves cutting some fat, lots of sugar, eating a higher proportion of veggies and cutting carbs and dairy. And yet I keep gaining it back.
It starts slowly when I am maintaining my weight - I will begin to allow myself the odd indiscretion that I had to avoid when losing. Then the odd indiscretion becomes a semi-regular indiscretion. It eventually becomes a habit. Seconds at the inlaws, brunch with friends, candy and chips when I'm on my period...
I know how to make the good choices, but the bad ones become such habits that I don't identify them as bad anymore.
So the balance I want to strike is how to lose weight without swinging the good habit pendulum so far that I inevitably swing back. I am trying to allow myself one indiscretion a week and otherwise be very good. That said, I am not counting calories, and I am compromising on meal choices.
When I was single, I had the luxury of having total control over my diet. Now that I'm coupled with a fussy eater I have to try and meet both nutritional and fussy needs. I have to eat more or less on a schedule and I can't just have melba toast and hummus and call it dinner.
All of this, I am hoping, will allow me to lose weight in such a way that I create sustainable habits. Only time will tell.
On to week two.
Posted By: illegally_blonde
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